


Blessthefall Goes on Hiatus

by Miss_Nightmare



Category: Blessthefall
Genre: Belliott, Beric - Freeform, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-19
Updated: 2016-07-31
Packaged: 2018-07-16 00:06:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7244293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_Nightmare/pseuds/Miss_Nightmare
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Blessthefall's members are ready to break up. They literally hate one another now and are ready to call it quits as a band, but their manager convinces them to give each other one more chance - by spending six months living together in the country.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hiatus

**Author's Note:**

> The rating is "Explicit" for later chapters ~

“You guys are clearly overworked,” Brian, Blessthefall's manager, tells the five of them. They're gathered together, sitting around in a tiny office listening to him plead for them to reconsider. To reconsider breaking up after being together for almost twenty years. It has gotten to the point to where they can't stand each other, snapping and screaming at each other at every moment. There has even been several punches thrown, and just last week Eric had ended up with a black eye. Matt hadn't intended on actually hurting him, but he was under the influence and wasn't exactly aware of what the fuck he was doing (not that he ever was these days).

Brian sighs heavily when there is no reply and continues. It feels like he's beating a dead horse, but he's going to try anyways. 

“You're an amazing band – you're great, talented guys. Every organization you've dealt with says this. The fans know this. Hell, even Kevin Lyman tells me how he wishes he could book you on every Warped Tour – you can't quit now. Things are just getting good!”

“If you call being in the middle of these four fucking idiots good I don't want any part of it,” Matt grunts, crossing his arms. “I'm sick of them.”

“Look who is talking,” Elliott snaps, giving him a sideways glare. “Mr. Drunk.”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP-”

“Hey now,” Brian says calmly, looking around the room, “Look, I want you guys to take a hiatus instead of breaking up-”

“No way,” Eric says, “I know for sure that I'm done with fucking around with these guys.”

“For me.”

“No offense,” Beau says, “But we don't exactly need to deal with you anymore since we're wanting to break up.”

Brian sits in deep thought, leaning his elbows on the desk and staring into Beau's eyes.

“I want you to take a vacation.”

“I've already planned on that. A week in Japan,” Elliott starts, but Brian cuts him off.

“Together.”

“NO WAY IN FUCKING HELL,” Matt exclaims before he can utter another word about it. “I'd rather die than spend another day with them.”

“And I don't mean a week long vacation,” he adds. “I'm talking a half year long hiatus – together.”

“You're insane,” Jared says.

“Maybe I am,” he says, standing up from his desk and pacing the room now. “But I have to try everything to get you to stay together.”

“What good would putting us all together do? I mean, it seems like if you were to do anything, it would be keep us away from each other for a year and then maybe we wouldn't hate each other as much,” Elliott says.

“I don't think that anything could make me like you guys again,” Matt snaps.

“See – the only time you've been spending together is when you're working. You guys have been going full speed lately – interviews, tours every month, recording new music... You need to relax with each other.”

“That sounds like torture,” Eric groans.

“Where would we be going?” Beau asks, giving Brian a confidence boost that maybe this plan was finally going to work.

“A house – somewhere in the US, I won't say where yet. I've got my eye on one, and the moment you guys agree – I'll buy it for you.”

“WHAT?” Jared exclaims. “You're going to buy us a house?-”

“Anything to try to keep you together. I'm not going to let one of the best bands I know break up if I can do something to stop it.”

“How long do we have to live together if you buy us this place?” Elliott asks, sounding especially concerned. 

“At least six months, we will re-evaluate your situation at that time – that could be enough to repair your relationships.”

“Honestly, I don't think it's going to work,” Matt says, “BUT – I'm willing to give it a shot since you're offering to buy us a place. Wait, I get my own bedroom, right?”

“Yes, everyone gets their own bedroom. The one I'm looking at is five bedroom, four and a half bathrooms.”

"It's a bad idea,” Eric says, “But if you're willing to spend that much money on us, I guess we need to try.”

“Yeah, and if worse comes to worse I can just stay in my bedroom,” Matt says.

“Yeah, and drink yourself to death,” Jared snaps, and Matt flips him off.

“Fuck you, I quit that shit.”

“Alright, alright. Calm down. I'll buy the place, let you guys know when it's time to move in, and then you can go from there. Just – try your best not to kill each other while you're there.”

“No promises,” Elliott mumbles, glaring over at the rest of his band, especially at Beau.


	2. Bedrooms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blessthefall arrives to their new house.

Elliott crosses his arms as he impatiently waits for Eric to throw the last of his shit into the van. He couldn't be more angry with the situation he's been dragged into – living with the four people he hates the most in the whole entire world – and is in one of the worst moods.

It especially doesn't help that Beau is standing within ten feet of him.

Because, well, out of the four of them – Beau annoys him the most. Hell, ever since he had joined the band Beau was annoying, but recently he's gotten so much worse. Maybe it's his age, or maybe it's just the way he is. Whatever the reason, it's pissing him off badly.

Beau pokes his shoulder as he stands staring at Eric.

“STOP IT!” Elliott screams, glaring at him. “Don't touch me, Jesus. Why in the hell are you always doing this?”

“Because it's fun,” he replies, this time poking his stomach. Elliott can literally feel the anger coursing through his veins, and he can tell that things could get ugly if Beau doesn't stop...

“Would you guys shut up and just leave each other alone? Fuck, this gets old,” Matt groans, helping Eric stuff a large green suitcase into the van. “How much entertainment can you get from that, Beau, seriously-”

“If you do it – one more time,” he says, slowly, glaring over at him.

Beau pokes his arm again, and – that's it – he loses it. He swings his first as hard as he can towards his face, bones colliding with such force and it sends such a sick pleasure through his veins. At first Beau stands there shocked, nose dripping blood from the moment his fist had collided, then anger flashes in his eyes and, fuck, he can tell it's coming. 

Beau lunges forward, clearly ready to knock the living daylights out of him, but Matt and Jared grab him by his arms before he has a chance to do what was intended.

“WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?” Matt yells, glaring between them both. “DON'T YOU KNOW YOU ARE STRONGER THAN HIM AND WOULD BASICALLY KILL THE GUY IF YOU TRIED?”

Beau stands between them, hands clinched and fury burning in his eyes.

“Fucking bastard!” he yells at Elliott, ignoring Matt's (clearly idiotic) comments.

“Cock sucker!” he yells back, which causes Beau to yank away from both Matt and Jared's hold, and he takes a swing. Elliott dodges it, instead managing yet another successful swing at Beau – this time hitting the side of his face.

“GOD DAMMIT, ELLIOTT!” Eric screams, pushing him in the chest away from Beau. “Stop it for God's sake! If we hope to make it to that house alive you are going to have to calm the fuck down-”

“What about him? He started this bullshit!” he snaps, glaring.

“You're the one that hit first,” Eric points out. “Now, seriously, stop it, you guys. Fuck, Brian was right to tell us not to kill each other...”

Somehow they finally gather themselves into the van, Matt driving, Jared in the passenger's seat, Beau and Eric sharing the middle seat, and Elliott in the back. It seems like the best arrangement possible, considering what has just occurred.

They're starting in Los Angeles and driving the whole way to Denver, Colorado. They had considered taking a plane, but Brian had quickly shut down the idea, claiming that the whole point of this was to do stuff together - without anyone else around. As if that was going to make them "closer" somehow.

Yeah, right.

Elliott takes comfort in the fact that he's got the back seat, though, and settles in quickly, putting his earbuds in and zoning out from the rest of them.

***

Elliott had been in a peaceful sleep when Eric starts screaming.

"I NEED TO GO TO THE BATHROOM!" he shouts. 

"Can't you fucking shut up for once in your life?" Elliott snaps sleepily, rubbing his eyes and looking out the window. It's dark now; he can barely tell where they are. After getting a good look, though, he can see that they're on an interstate.

"Jesus, Eric, we've only been on the road for like, five hours," Matt says.

"Yeah, good point. FIVE HOURS IS A LONG TIME!" he yells back. "God, come on, just pull over so I can take a piss!"

"Ugh, FINE," he says finally, coming to a stop on the edge of the road. Eric gets out, and when he does, Beau turns around to face Elliott.

"Having fun back there? Alone as usual?" he says, and fuck - he does not want to start this right now.

"Yes, Beau. And kindly go fuck yourself."

"I am so sick of tired of you two fighting," Jared whines from the front. "SO, SHUT THE FUCK UP."

"Let them fight, maybe Beau will end up killing Elliott and we'll have one less asshole to deal with," Matt says, when Eric gets back in the car, breathing hard.

"I SAW SOMETHING," he breathes, looking around at them with wide eyes and a slight sweat covering his face, "SOMETHING BIG."

"It was probably my dick," Matt says simply, getting back onto the road. 

"THIS IS NOT A JOKE, YOU DICKHEAD. I'M SERIOUS."

"Eric, could you be any more of a fucking drama queen?" Jared snaps.

"I THINK IT WAS A BEAR."

"Jesus, Eric, a bear? Come on, there aren't any bears in California…"

“I'm telling you, it was a fucking bear-”

“Okay, we get it, Eric,” Jared says, attempting to get him to shut up. “You saw a bear, but you're not by it now. So calm your shit.”

***

Ten hours later, they've almost reached their destination. The most they know about the house is that it's supposed to be big, and pretty damn expensive from the way Brian had talked about it. Elliott was expecting a shack, to be honest, with the way Brian was sometimes. He liked a good joke, and sending the five out them out in the wilderness to live in one would be exactly like him. If it did turn out to be a shack he had already decided that he'd rather sleep outside than that close to any of his bandmates.

He does have to admit, however, that all of the views he's seeing right now as they drive closer and closer to where they were going to be living for the next six months are beautiful. Mountains and trees as far as the eye can see – the mountains are even snow capped. It be a much more pleasant experience if he was alone, but hey – he'll take what he can get. Who knows, maybe the rest of them would get tired of the place and leave it all to him to live in.

Yeah, he can dream.

“Should be coming up here on the right,” Matt says, breaking the silence that hangs between them. 

There's no mistaking the house, no possible way that anyone could miss it. It's two story, built of logs and stone, with two chimneys facing the front, a wrap around porch on the second story, and a driveway that has to be around half a mile long. It's surrounded by tall pine trees, which cover up half of the house anyways. In all honesty, was fucking beautiful.

“Is – is that the one?” Beau asks, and Matt nods slowly.

“Yeah – that's the address.”

“Holy shit,” Elliott says, unbuckling his seat belt and leaning forward so he can get a better look. “That's – this is ours?”

“BEAR!” Eric screams, and this time, Elliott believes him because just now, a brown bear the size of a small horse (if horses were fat and fuzzy), has just walked straight out of the woods and in front of the van.

“Run over it!” Jared screams, reaching over towards the steering wheel, as if he can do anything to make it to where it moves. Matt slaps his hands away.

“Fuck off, I know what I'm doing!” he snaps, revving the engine and then honking the horn. “MOVE, BEAR!”

The bear merely stares at them, seemingly pondering its next move. It sits down on the concrete and looks towards their new house and seems to decide that it wants to go there, and gets up, walking down the driveway towards their beautiful new home.

“FUCK, SEE WHAT YOU'VE DONE? NOW IT'S GONNA BE AT THE HOUSE!”

“Quit being such a god damn pussy, Jared! Jesus, it's just a bear-”

“JUST A BEAR?” Eric echoes, “Oh, yeah, okay, maybe we can keep it as a pet then if it's 'just a fucking bear'. Name it 'Winnie the Pooh'!”

“I'll take care of it, okay? Let's just drive down to the house and if he – if it – is a problem we can figure out what to do then. For all we know he's already back in the woods!”

They make it down to the house, and with the closer they get the grander the house seems, Elliott can only imagine what it looks like on the inside. 

Getting out of the van, Matt walks up to the front door first, since he has the key that Brian had so kindly provided only one of (and Elliott knows why he only gave one – so that they all had to stick together even more – the asshole). 

It is grander (and bigger, it seems) on the inside. The entryway made of stone, dark cherry wood flooring in the living area, from which you could see the hallway upstairs. A fireplace made of mismatched red bricks, expensive chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, there is even a flat screen TV larger than any TV Elliott's ever watched hanging on the wall opposite a leather couch. 

On top of the dining room table there was a long latter from Brian, which Jared had picked up first and then handed to Elliott after he was done reading~

_Dear Eric, Jared, Matt, Beau, and Elliott,_

_I know it might not seem like much yet, with it's lack of furniture and such, but it's coming. I wasn't able to have all of it delivered in time for your arrival, but I figure the five of you can figure out how to handle yourselves until the rest of the necessities arrive. I have also arranged for groceries to be delivered to you, as well as anything else per your request – simply give me a call or text and I will get it ordered for you. There is no washer or dryer yet, but they should be arriving Tuesday of next week. The beds will also be arriving next week, but I'm not sure exactly which day yet. I will let you know when I find out. For now, the TV and yourselves should provide you with enough entertainment to keep you occupied._

_Best Regards,  
Brian_

_P.S. Beware of the bears._

The couch had been the most comfortable object in the house as Brian had apparently forgotten to provide beds for any of them was more important than buying a couch (or a TV for that matter). Not only that, but Elliott had forgotten to bring pillows or blankets of any kind, which the rest of them had apparently remembered.

Now, deciding whose bedroom was whose was going to be a fight, he can already tell. Matt clearly has his eyes set on the one that _he_ wants – the upstairs master bedroom, which was the largest of the five by far.

“How are we going to solve this?” Eric inquires as he pops back into the living room after inspecting each bedroom. “Because obviously we aren't going to agree on who gets which room.”

“Elliott obviously doesn't get to chose his because he's fucking broken my nose,” Beau whines.

“Fuck you – you deserved it -”

“Look, I don't know about you guys, but I'm tired and ready to sleep. Maybe we can decide on bedrooms tomorrow and just all of us huddle in the living room tonight?” Jared suggests.

“Are you fucking kidding me? Sleep in the same room as you guys? I'd rather fight the bear,” Matt snaps. “Fuck – Let's just give the upstairs master to me so that there's no fight over it-”

“Oh, yeah, sure – let's just give it to you, that makes things a lot easier,” Elliott replies sarcastically. “You're such a selfish asshole, you know that?”

“Yeah, well, at least I'm not a faggot-”

“FUCK OFF, MATT!” Elliott screams, “DO YOU WANT A BROKEN NOSE, TOO?”

He hates it when they use his sexuality as an insult to him.

“Settle down!” Eric shouts. “Jesus, we are never going to get anywhere if we don't stop fighting for two seconds.”

“Okay, well, if no one has any objection I'm taking the room beside the master bedroom upstairs that everyone seems to want,” Beau says, pinching the bridge of his bruised up nose and wincing. “I mean, if it means I can go to bed now, then I'm all for it.”

“I have no objection,” Eric says, and the rest of them nod.

Beau leaves the room (thank God).

“And I'll take the downstairs master,” Eric says sheepishly, as if he thinks the rest of them aren't going to be okay with it.

“Fine by me,” Elliott says dismissively. 

“And I'm getting one of the smaller ones upstairs,” Jared says quickly, before running up so that even if Elliott or Matt didn't agree with it, he couldn't hear them say it.

They're the only two left in the room and they're downright glaring at each other. 

“For once in your life can you be considerate of someone else other than yourself and let me have the room?” Elliott asks, as politely as he can considering the fact that he hates Matt – almost more than he hates Beau. 

“That's pretty low coming from the person that never helps out after shows in order to get all of our shit put up,” he snaps, crossing his arms.

“Don't think that I don't know,” Elliott hisses, checking to make sure no one else was in the room when he says it.

Matt is a full blown alcoholic. He had gotten so bad that he was almost too drunk to play a show back a couple of months ago, so the rest of the band had intervened and almost kicked him out, but he swore that he would stop.

Now, Elliott knew damn well that he hadn't stopped, he had smelt the vodka in his breath several times since, but was in no mood to go searching for a replacement for him. So, he kept it to himself. As long as he never got too drunk to play a show, he was going to stay out of it.

But, if he can use this fact to his advantage, then he will.

“Know what?” Matt says, almost laughs, cockily, and fuck it's sexy when he does. If Elliott wasn't so intent on getting that damn room to himself, and sticking to his pride, he'd love to try to get him in bed. He's always imagined getting Matt to admit that he likes guys too, and fuck, Elliott _knows_ he could make him feel good. Something about Matt's personality tells him that he's good in bed, too, and with all of the adrenaline surging through his veins right now, he has a hard time not thinking about having sex with him.

“Know that you brought the alcohol that you did,” he replies with an evil smirk, which makes the color drain from Matt's face after he says it.

It's interesting to be the more powerful one in the situation, though, having the upper hand yet still wanting Matt to throw him against the wall and fuck him senseless.

“I did not-”

“Don't even _try_ to deny it,” he smirks, “I know you never stopped – I'm not an idiot like the rest of them. You're lucky you're even still in this band, you know that?” 

“Elliott...”

“But, I guess if you want the room that badly...”

“Fuck it, fine. Take the damn thing. Just – keep that to yourself, okay?”

“Hm, I guess I will,” he replies, “For now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is turning out a lot differently than I thought it was going to. The house they're staying in is more like a really fancy log cabin type thing – I'll attach a link later. Also – for those of you that have never been to Denver, Colorado – it's freaking beautiful. And also very cold – which I actually like haha.
> 
> It's harder to write this story since I'm so used to writing about them getting along, but I'm liking the change. I think in other chapters I might have the point of view more centered on one of the other characters than Elliott – but I haven't decided yet.


	3. Beds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the beds arrive (and Elliott is embarrassed because Eric is an idiot).

Elliott had thought that once he had secured the bedroom all to himself that he was set. That everything was aligned to where he could spend the whole of his days within it's secure boundaries and not have to deal with his bandmates whatsoever.

Oh, how wrong he was.

First off, he had forgotten to bring pillows or blankets of any sort. Now, this wouldn’t have presented such a problem if one of his friends would've shared (and by one of his friends he means Beau, as he had been the only one to think ahead and bring extras). 

Second off, the beds still hadn't arrived and it's been two solid fucking weeks since they had gotten there. When Jared had last spoken to Brian about the subject, he had merely told him that he wasn't sure exactly when they were getting delivered, only that they were going to be there at some point.

Fuck Brian and his vagueness and inability to make sure that the important things arrived on time. They could've dealt with another week without a clothes washer and dryer, but no – they came first and the beds had to come later. Why not? Who needs a good night's rest?

To make matters five thousand billion times worse, the room next to him is occupied by Beau. This means that every sound he makes – Elliott can hear. He can hear when he takes his showers, coughs, laughs, and – fuck – he can hear when he's getting off, too. This usually leads to Elliott getting off as well, which he will never admit to anyone on planet Earth. Hell, he has a hard time admitting it to himself.

He puts up with all of this, the sleepless nights, the endless noises coming from Beau, for fifteen solid days.

It's on the sixteenth day that he gives in and decides to ask for the extra damn pillow because it's getting ridiculous how little sleep he's getting.

He knocks softly on the door, careful to play his cards right because this is his one and only chance for sleep. 

“Pizza here already? Awesome!” Beau exclaims, before opening the door and sighing heavily. “Oh, fuck, it's you. What do you want?”

“Look – I'm not happy to see you either, okay? I just – I know you have an extra pillow and I was like – wondering if I could borrow it. Because for the past fifteen days I haven't gotten a second of comfortable sleep because it's fucking impossible to sleep on a wood floor.”

“The only way I'm letting you use my pillow is if you use it in here. There's no way in hell I trust you to give it back if you take it to your room. For all I know you'd piss on it or some shit.”

“I would not!” he exclaims, angrily, stomping his foot. Everything is testing his patience right now considering the amount of sleep he's had. “Come on, I don't want to sleep in here-”

“Alright, well have fun sleeping on the floor tonight, then. I heard the beds should be here in two days, anyways, so you can make it that long, right?”

He looks behind Beau at the bed setup on the floor, four fluffy pillows lined up – two plush blankets lying below. He can only imagine how good it feels to lie one's head on top and cover up – falling into a deep, comfortable sleep...

“Fine, fine, just – I'm tired. Fine.”

“And the rule is you can't be a shithead. The moment you start being a jackass to me I'm kicking you out. Got it?”

“Got it,” he mutters absentmindedly, rushing over towards the 'bed'. He takes off his shirt (Beau's eyes obviously diverting to him and staring as he does so) and lies down onto the makeshift bed and smiles to himself. 

“Bit early, isn't it?” he asks, but Elliott only halfway hears him, as he's already drifted off into a much needed sleep.

***

He wakes up to find Beau is cuddling with him. He's lying on his back, in the same position he had been in when he had first laid down, but Beau is now beside him, arm draped across his waist and body pressed as close as possible to his. So close, that he can literally feel Beau's dick through his boxers on his thigh.

Normally, he would get upset about this – probably do something like shove him away and tell him to never fucking touch him again. But the thing is – Beau's asleep and Elliott is completely and totally aware of what's touching what and oh my god, he is fucking turned on as hell about this.

He does nothing for a while, mind spinning from the excitement of actually having a guy near him like this again. He hasn't had sex in months, and fuck, why does Beau of all people have to be the one he has the closet chance with to do it with? Besides, their recent encounters haven't exactly been on friendliest terms, especially the whole thing where he punched him. He is good looking, of course, but he's fucking annoying as hell and he hates him. 

At least, he thinks he does.

Hate is the last emotion on his mind right now, however. He's currently trying to think of things other than Beau's dick (like his grandma and cute little puppies) but it's not working. Beau twitches in his sleep and his hips move closer towards his.

He needs to jack off, and he needs to now. If only he could figure out a way to get up without waking him, but considering the position that they're in it's going to be damn near impossible. He has to try, however, because he's not sure how much longer he can lie there and not do a thing about it. 

The first movement he makes, however, wakes up Beau.

“Uh, morning already?” he asks, stretching his arms and looking over (adoringly? Because this is the only way that he could describe the way Beau has just looked at him).

“Yeah,” he replies, trying to forget about the dirty thoughts he had just been having. Trying to forget how he wants Beau to hold him down right there and fuck him until he screams his name, to take what he wants and not be the least bit forgiving – to hurt him. To hold his wrists tight and fuck him senseless, never giving him a chance to get away from him...

“I slept great,” he says, standing up and stretching, Elliott's eyes raking over his body, taking in every detail - every tattoo that he wants to kiss and lick – the obvious hard on that Beau has as well – it's just not fair that there's not an easy way to ask 'hey, can we fuck really quick?' without causing major issues. “What about you?”

“Yeah, I slept,” he replies. He leaves the room without another word, intending on going into his to take a shower and get off, but he unfortunately runs into an extremely happy looking Jared on his way there.

“Morning!” Jared exclaims, way too fucking cheerfully for any morning. Seriously, who is that wide awake and happy this early anyways? Elliott can't even think of a reason to be in a good mood right now. That is, unless, you know, he got laid or something, then he'd be pretty damn happy.

“Yeah, morning,” he replies grumpily, striding past him.

“Guess what?” Jared asks, following him. He rolls his eyes before spinning around angrily.

“What?”

“Beds are coming today! And we're getting groceries! Dude, Brian just texted Matt all about it.”

“Wait – today? Beds? Fuck yeah!” he exclaims, bad mood forgotten and, thankfully, sex drive slightly subsided.

“I know, right? Hey – you want to go grab Beau and have breakfast together? You know – as a way of celebrating-”

“Um, me? Go get Beau?”

“Oh, come on – we know you slept with him. Word travels fast here in the wilderness,” he laughs, punching his shoulder playfully. Elliott raises an eyebrow at him. Since when were they on good enough terms to joke like that with each other? 

“Alright – fine. I'll get him,” he sighs, agreeing even though he really doesn't feel like interacting with him again. He's already feeling slightly awkward because of the whole 'dirty thoughts about his friend' thing earlier, and rather not confront him directly for a while.

He makes his way back to the room, padding down the large stone floored hallway, pausing once he gets there;

“Fuck,” he hears Beau breathe through the door.

Elliott knows that sound. He's heard it at least once a night ever since they got the place – and he's heard it even before then, too, coming from Beau's bunk in the middle of the night, when he thought that no one was awake or around to notice. He leans his head in closer, thankful that no one is in the hallway to see him do so, and listens.

He hears the distinct noises of him getting off – hand moving fast, so dirty and wet – fuck, he wants to see more – he needs to see more. He turns the knob ever so slightly, pushing open as slowly and carefully as he possibly can. 

Beau doesn't notice him. He has it opened just enough to be able to see – he's lying in bed, boxers pushed down to his knees and hand wrapped around his cock. Elliott's barely breathing as he stands there, hypnotized by the sheer beauty that is in front of him. He looks like he's close, and Elliott wishes to holy hell that he had his glasses on right now so he could see a little fucking better, but he's not going anywhere. Beau's hand moves faster, Elliott's hand goes to the front of his boxers, slowly and subtly palming himself through the thin fabric-

"HEY, DID YOU HEAR WE'RE GETTING THE BEDS TODAY?" Eric shouts gleefully as he runs down the hallway. On instinct, Elliott shuts the door and spins around, giving Eric the worst death glare imaginable. 

"ERIC!" he yells, wishing he had something, anything, to throw at him. He has no idea what he has just ruined, nor the sheer amount of embarrassment that he has caused him.

"I KNOW, RIGHT?" he replies enthusiastically, apparently thinking that Elliott was happy yelling about the stupid beds and not about to choke him.

Not literally, but he's pretty damn mad at him.

"Who slammed my door?" Beau screams, and the color instantly drains from Elliott's face. 

"Elliott! I scared him when I walked up," Eric replies casually, as if what he said didn't just make Elliott's world crumble to pieces around him and cheeks turn a bright red color.

Fuck.

The door opens and Beau steps out, and he looks over at Elliott. They lock eyes briefly before Beau turns to Eric:

"So, you said that the beds are coming?"

***

Beau, surprisingly, doesn't say a word to him about the incident. Not during breakfast (which was leftover pizza – again), and not even when they're alone together in Beau's bedroom setting up his bed, which would've been prime time to bring up the subject. Instead, Beau chooses to talk about how much he misses having internet access.

Maybe it's to prevent the awkwardness that it would cause. It's so much easier to hate someone that to confront your teenage crush feelings about them, so maybe that's what they were going to keep doing.

Either way, Elliott is mostly glad that they don't talk about it, because he doesn't want to talk about it - he doesn't even want to think about it (that is, unless, he's alone in his bedroom - then he wants to think about it).

***

The five of them are sitting together in the living room for the first time since getting the place. Four of them are huddled together on the couch, Eric being on the floor beside Elliott. Elliott and Beau are on opposite ends of the couch with Matt and Jared being in between. It's actually peaceful, Elliott thinks, and maybe it's because they all know they're actually going to get a good night's sleep, filled with fluffy pillows, blankets, and an actual mattress. 

Jared has the remote and is flipping through TV channels, when suddenly Matt reaches over and grabs it from him.

Elliott is way too tired to deal with anyone's shit - or to hear any fighting, so he's made the sudden mental promise to himself that if they start fighting he's leaving the room and going the fuck to bed.

"Dude, you're skipping through the channels too quickly," Matt says simply, to which Jared shrugs in response. “I couldn't even see what was on...”

It's more than a shock that the little disagreement doesn't turn into a full blown fight, but Elliott figures it's because it's been a long day and the two of them don't feel up to arguing.

It's silent between them for a solid twenty minutes as Matt searches for something to watch. He eventually does – putting it on a replay of some football game. Elliott's having a hard time keeping his eyes open after he does, and tells himself he's going to get up in just a minute to go to bed. He doesn't make it there, however, and falls asleep with his head resting on Jared's shoulder, with Eric snuggled up beside his legs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super tired right now but I spent all day getting this chapter finished and edited so it could go up. I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend so far <3


	4. Strawberry Pie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It involves pies, kissing, and Kellin Quinn.

As expected, the peacefulness between them doesn't last long.

Elliott is sitting at the dining room table, drinking a cup of cheap coffee and reading the newspaper (yes, he has resorted to reading the actual newspaper, as there is no internet here to read it on his phone), when Beau walks in and sits down across from him.

“Can you cook something nice for breakfast?” he asks sleepily. Elliott slowly looks up from the article about Denver's high school football team continuing it's ten game losing streak and sighs heavily.

“No.”

“Oh, come on – I know you know how to cook,” Beau begs, “And Brian sent eggs and like – milk. I've seen you make stuff before, why not here? I'm so sick of pizza I don't think I'll be able to eat it again without puking.”

“I guess you're going to starve, then,” Elliott snaps, returning his attention to the paper. He does know how to cook, quite well actually, but he isn't in the mood to make anything for Beau, let alone at seven in the morning.

“What about muffins? Or like – french toast or something? Please?”

“Beau, since when have you done something nice for me? I don't see any reason for me to do something for you when-”

“I shared my bed with you,” he points out.

“Yes, but you didn't say I owed you for that – you said the rule was that I wasn't an asshole and I kept to my word. Why don't you ask Eric to cook for you or some shit?”

“Because Eric can't cook! Neither can Jared or Matt – I know you're the only one that's skilled enough to make anything. Come on – I'm so hungry.”

“Eat a raw egg,” he snaps, internally laughing at his own joke. Before Beau can reply, Eric strides in the room wearing heart patterned boxers and carrying a piece of pizza.

“What's up,” he says through a mouthful, plopping himself in the chair closet to Elliott.

“I'm begging Elliott to cook for us and he won't,” Beau answers, sadly.

“I don't feel like it,” he replies, grabbing his coffee cup and standing up. “If you want something to eat make it yourself.”

***

Beau doesn't drop it. In fact, the next morning as Elliott sits down to read the newspaper, he finds a recipe cutout stuffed inside it. It's a recipe for blueberry muffins, along with Beau's messy handwriting along the top of it - “there's a blueberry bush behind the tallest pine tree”. He rolls his eyes and is about to crumple up the piece of paper when he pauses, instead folding it and shoving it in his pocket. Not that he's thinking about actually making it for him – no – just in case. You never know when you might need a blueberry muffin recipe.

***

Elliott is busy scrubbing the kitchen floor where Eric has just spilled another bowl of cereal (the fucker), when the doorbell rings. Eric doesn't make any attempt to get up from his lazy position on the couch to answer it, so Elliott angrily gets up from his knees and opens it.

“Who is- Kellin?” he asks, shocked. He was the very last person he was expecting to see, as he had figured that it was just another delivery of groceries or something similar. And also due to the fact that Kellin lives in California and not in Colorado.

“Hey, Elliott!” he exclaims, way too cheerfully. Elliott always thought he was too happy of a person. You can't trust someone who is always happy – it always means one of two things. One – they're depressed, or two – they're liars. Neither of which are good possibilities, and Elliott has always assumed that Kellin was the latter of the two.

“What in the hell are you doing here?” he asks.

“Well – I heard from a little birdie that you guys had gotten a place here and I just couldn't resist bringing you a house warming gift,” he grins, holding out what appears to be a pie. A strawberry pie if Elliott's nose serves him correctly.

He wants some of that pie and he wants it now. He's so sick and tired of the takeout meals and cereal that he thinks he's going to scream. He would let Kellin know how much he wants it too, but that would be drawing attention to it. The very last thing he wants to do is to let the idiots of the house know what has just presented itself. God knows he'd have to fight Eric off with a fucking sword, and Beau – he'd kick Beau right in the balls if he got near that pie.

“Thanks,” he says, taking the circle of heaven from Kellin. “Is that all?”

“What? No! I thought you'd invite me in or something-”

“And me!” Denis exclaims from behind Kellin, whom Elliott had not known was standing there. He's so tiny, he could hide anywhere. Kellin rolls his eyes.

“And him,” he sighs, glaring behind himself. “I thought you were going to stay at the house!”

“Why do you even have a place here? I thought you lived in California. And – and why is Denis with you?” Elliott asks, ignoring their bickering.

“He hasn't told you yet? I'm his boyfriend!” Denis exclaims happily. Kellin looks extremely annoyed.

“Yes, he's my boyfriend, great – let's move on. Anyways! Can't I come in now?” 

“We! Can't we come in?” Denis corrects. Elliott feels as if he has no choice if he wants the pie, so he obliges.

 

“Kellin! What are you doing here?” Beau asks as he walks down the stairs, arms full of empty boxes. 

“Well, I came by to bring a house warming gift-”

“Which is mine,” Elliott says selfishly, pulling it closer to himself. He feels like he's gone insane after only being with his “friends” for a week.

“Hey, is that pie?” Eric asks, rushing into the room with his empty bowl. “Jesus, let's have some!”

“All I heard was pie,” Jared exclaims, running down the stairs as if his life depended on it. “Please tell me I was right-”

“IT'S MINE!” Elliott exclaims, before running towards the stairs, pie securely in his arms. He almost makes it to the first step, but Beau yanks his arm back and somehow does some ninja move shit in order to grab the pastry from within his hands. He spins around and they lock eyes for a split second before Elliott reaches for it again, but Beau lifts it above his head.

“No way, Elliott, we're sharing this thing.”

“Why? Kellin handed it to me!” he yells, before jumping up and attempting to grab it, but instead he knocks it out of Beau's hands and onto the floor, splattering strawberry deliciousness all across the room.

It's silent for a couple of moments, the only noise being the gasp that comes from Eric. 

Denis' laughter breaks the silence.

“You guys are fuckin' insane!” he laughs, “How can a pie be this big of a deal?”

Jared literally starts crying.

“WHY, ELLIOTT?” he wails, getting on his knees and attempting to save what he can of it. It's not doing any good, it has spread across the floor, bits of dirt and dust in it. “Our only chance for good cuisine and you ruined it!”

“I-”

“SEE! THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU'RE SELFISH!” Beau yells, glaring at him. “If you would've shared we wouldn't have this problem!”

“You guys seriously need to chill out,” Kellin comments as he bends over to clean up the mess. “It's not that big of a deal-”

“Well, at least it gave you some insight into who is the problem here,” Beau snaps. “No wonder we are on the verge of a fucking break up.”

“TOLD YOU THEY WERE DATING!” Denis exclaims happily to Kellin.

“WE ARE NOT DATING!” Elliott yells. “He is referring to us as a band breaking up, you dick wad! I'd rather die along than ever date that idiot!”

“Everyone needs to calm down. Including Denis,” Kellin says, shooting his boyfriend a glare as he carries the remains of the desert to the trash. “I know why now Brian warned us to leave you alone. But – I think it might do you some good to get away from each other.”

“See, that's what I said,” Elliott says, finally comforted by the fact that someone thought the same as he did. Honestly, who would ever suggest that spending time together could make this situation any better? If anything it was making it worse.

“We can't leave – Brian made us promise to stay,” Jared says. “It was the rule if he bought us this house, we had to live in it together for six months.”

“Just because you're living together doesn't mean you have to spend time together!” Kellin says, like it's the most obvious thing in the world. Which, in reality, it should've been obvious anyways. 

“But what do we do when we get bored? I'm bored all the god damn time!” Beau says.

“You could fuck, that's what Kellin and I do when we get bored-”

“DENIS!” Kellin snaps. “Do you have to be so open about this?”

“What? He asked!”

“Look, ignore him, he's an idiot. Point is, you can be here but not have to deal with each other. In fact – I have a brilliant idea! Why don't you intentionally avoid each other?”

“We already do that,” Elliott begins, but Kellin cuts him off.

“No – I mean REALLY avoid each other. Hell, make it a point to not say a word to each other. To not even make eye contact. Denis and I will come over every once in a while, so you'll have some interaction other than yourselves...”

“I mean, I guess it's not a bad idea...” Eric muses, scratching the back of his head.

“Are you serious? You guess? It's the best idea anyone has given us, and I'm starting right now,” Elliott says, crossing his arms and making it a point that he was going to completely and totally ignore everyone of his stupid bandmates for the rest of the time they were required to stay.

***

It had sounded very easy at the time, it really had. How hard can it be to intentionally avoid someone you hate? After all, it is what Elliott had wanted to do since the beginning, so it should be easy as pie (no pun intended).

But it turns out that it's a lot harder than he would've ever imagined. He can't confront Beau about all the racket he makes in his room and how it makes it hard to sleep at night, or how annoying it is that he's leaving recipe cutouts everywhere for Elliott. He's seriously taken to sneaking in his room and placing them underneath his pillow like the fucking tooth fairy – except it's like a food fairy or some shit. Elliott now has a recipe stockpile in one of his desk drawers, filled with everyone of the ones Beau has left him. 

He wants to tell Eric to stop making such a huge mess in the kitchen every time he walks in there. He wants to sit down with Matt to watch some of the Walking Dead reruns. Hell, he even wants to ask Jared to play video games with him but he can't because he's not going to give in this easily. If anyone can last five months without saying a word to their bandmates it's him.

He takes to running as his escape from it all. It keeps his mind off of everything, really, so it's the perfect distraction from the lure of socialization. He notes that both Jared and Matt have taken up gardening (he even sees them outside together doing it – and can't help the twinge of jealously that arises within his stomach when he sees it). Beau stays inside mostly, playing video games or watching TV. Eric does the same, except usually with a bowl of cereal in his hands.

It's on one particularly cool morning that Matt happens to be outside preparing for a run just as Elliott steps out the back door. He briefly considers walking back inside to avoid any contact with him whatsoever, but finds himself wanting to run with him. After all, it gets boring running alone.

Right?

“Hey,” Elliott says as he walks in front of Matt, bending over and touching his toes in order to stretch. 

“He- hey,” Matt replies, and, wow, Elliott knows why he stuttered – or at least, he has a pretty damn good guess. He turns around ever so slightly and sees that Matt's eyes had been glued to him – he must've been watching him bend over – not that he is the least bit surprised. 

“Wanna go for a run together? I mean, since we're both going and everything it seems silly to not do it together...”

“Yeah, you're right. I'm like – tired of ignoring you for now,” he says, and when he does a weight feels like it's been lifted off of Elliott's shoulders – he was tired of the game now, too, not that he'd admit it to anyone. 

They arrive back to the house, sweaty and out of breath, and Elliott can't stop laughing. He's not sure why he's laughing, but he thinks it has something to do with something Matt said earlier. He can't remember; all he knows is that he hasn't felt this happy in ages. There's adrenaline rushing through his veins just like when they played shows and he feels so fucking alive. They're still standing outside together, cooling down in the cold Denver breeze when Elliott gets the strong urge to kiss Matt. Fuck, he doesn't even know why it's overtaking him so suddenly, but he sees no reason in denying himself anything any longer – he's already given up ignoring Matt – why ignore this?

Matt's looking to his left when Elliott does it, pushing his body up against the back door and attaching his lips to his, hands on both sides of his face.

“Whoa – whoa- oh, fuck,” Matt mumbles, lips quickly settling into the kiss and kissing back. 

It feels like time has slowed down just for them – like the whole world has stopped spinning just for this one moment and it feels so good. Elliott pulls away, breathless and horny, but decides to leave it at that, and wait for Matt's reaction.

“Well, that was nice,” he laughs, rubbing the back of his neck after he says it. “I thought you hated me?”

“Shut up,” Elliott laughs, giving him a playful glare. “I'm desperate right now, okay? And you're the only one I've talked to in weeks.”

“Oh, so I'm just a last resort? I get it.”

“I thought you were straight anyways.”

“I'm straight unless I'm stranded in the middle of nowhere with you guys and nothing else to take up my time.”

Elliott leans in again, unable to resist those pretty fucking lips, when the back door opens and Jared steps out, arms full of gardening supplies – small shovels, pots, and packets of seeds – all of which is dropped to the ground when he sees what is happening.

“It's not what you think,” Matt is stuttering as he backs away from Elliott, his hands raised in the air as if he's committed a crime. Jared doesn't say a word, though, instead he runs back inside, slamming the door behind himself. “Fuck,” Matt says, opening the door and rushing in after him. “JARED!”

Elliott is left alone, staring at the mess on the ground and wondering what just happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't you just love drama? Especially drama that involves Blessthefall memebers kissing each other? XD  
> I feel like this chapter took me forever to complete, honestly. I wish I could write from some of the other character's POVs, but I don't like switching around. It may be easy for other authors to do, but when I do it, it just makes my stories bad I think.
> 
> And yes, I just had to insert Kellin / Denis because I'm obsessed with their pairing. The idea is that they have a little vacation house in Denver as well. 
> 
> I hope everyone is having a great weekend! I've got a terrible headache right now so I'm not feeling too great. Hopefully another cup of tea will help - I'm about to start on editing the next chapter of "It feels like starting over" which you should totally go check out if you haven't already (shameless self promotion ok) lol.
> 
> Love you guys! <3

**Author's Note:**

> I'm super excited about this story ~ a reader on another one of my Blessthefall fanfictions suggested that I write several one-shots to / for the same universe and this is kind of an idea that came from it. I may or may not add in some other characters later (I'm thinking Kellin or Denis) - but I'm not sure yet. This is the first story I've posted in a while that I didn't have completely written before posting - I think the last one was Warped Tour 2015. I'm going to work on the next part tonight and it might be posted tomorrow, depending on how busy I am :)


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